Acoustical treatment of enclosed spaces has long been recognized as desirable. It is generally known that a room or the like may be acoustically treated, or "tuned" by selectively placing patterns of acoustical material on the interior walls. Tuning enhances or otherwise controls the sound quality within the room, such as the sound quality of a home theater system.
Arrangements of acoustical treatment generally include segments of acoustical material mounted on the walls, ceilings, or other surfaces of a room. The acoustical material may, for example, diffuse, selectively reflect, or absorb sound.
After the acoustical material is mounted, it is covered by a fabric. The fabric may be selected to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the room, such as by covering the acoustical material with fabrics of differing patterns and colors. In addition, the fabric keeps dirt and dust from collecting in the acoustical material.
The fabric is supported by retainer members having grooves in which the fabric edges are secured. Prior to covering the acoustical material with fabric, retainer members are mounted around the periphery of the pattern of acoustical material. A sheet of fabric is then placed over the acoustical material, and the edges of the fabric are tucked into the grooves in the retainer members, which secures the fabric over the acoustical material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,002 to McGrath et al. discloses acoustical material in the form of paneling, and methods of installing the paneling. The acoustical paneling is mounted on wall surfaces to change room acoustics, and is covered by fabric material 100. The fabric material 100 is held within fabric retainers 96, as shown in FIG. 10 of McGrath et al.
FIGS. 17-19 of this application show conventional fabric retainers used in an acoustical treatment. The conventional retainer 10 in FIG. 17 has a fabric retainer groove 5 and a pocket 7 to store tucked fabric 8. The fabric retainer groove 5 is formed by opposed members 9, 11 having opposed rows of teeth 13, 15. It is difficult to tuck fabric into the fabric retainer groove 5 of this retainer because of the offset in height 18 between the two opposed members 9, 11. Fabric may only be tucked into the fabric retainer groove 5 from one side of the retainer- the side of the groove having the shorter of the two opposed members 9, 11. The direction of insertion is indicated generally by the arrow.
FIGS. 18 and 19 are cross-sectional and top views, respectively, of a conventional fabric retainer 20. Fabric retainer 20 has a fabric retainer groove 25 formed by opposed members 21, 29, and a pocket 27 for storing fabric. Fabric must be inserted into fabric retainer 20 in the direction generally indicated by the arrow.
Fabric retainers 10 and 20 do not allow for the insertion of wires, and any wires must be installed by some other means. This is inconvenient because acoustical treatment is often used in rooms which require additional wiring, such as speaker and control wires for a home theater system.
Therefore, a fabric retainer which can additionally act as a conduit or the like for wiring and the like is desirable. A fabric retainer which allows for the insertion of fabric from either side of the retainer groove is also desirable.